“Ok. I may have to miss out on the awakening. Mr. Dante shouldn’t be left alone, but I'll make sure Chrissy and Bibi are there. I want to make sure Mr. Dante is safe,” she said. “Be careful love,” she added as he stomped down the hallway.
Back at Cesare and Mila's house, Vincenzo took a quick walk to burn off the anxiety and nervousness that was overtaking him while sitting on the couch. He initially planned on leaving without a trace, but he knew his brothers would find him.
“Fucking magicians and shit, god damn conscious committee,” he said to himself, kicking rocks on the sidewalk. He reached in his pocket for his I-Pod and headphones when a black SUV pulled up beside him.
Vincenzo took off running down the street and four men chased after him. He ran like the cops were in pursuit; jumping fences and climbing walls. Vincenzo found himself cutting through subdivisions garnering the attention of the fenced in Rottweilers.
“Shit!” he shouted as three came at him simultaneously; one ripping his jeans. He hopped the adjacent fence and stopped to catch his breath. He started walking quickly as the silence around him caused him alarm.
No dogs barking, no crickets. Shit, I don’t even hear cars, he thought to himself, as he carefully watched his surroundings. He could feel the breath of something large behind him, and as he turned, there stood three men.
Vincenzo stared at them as they approached.
“Hey. We just want to talk,” the man in the center said to him.
“We ain’t got shit to talk about man. I don’t know you,” Vincenzo shouted.
“Oh, but you knew my sister when you broke her chastity! She was promised to an Alpha! And now you have sullied her and you have ruined her chance of becoming head bitch!” he shouted back.
Vincenzo looked at him strangely; his eyes shifting as the three men turned themselves into wolf form.
“Holy fuck!” Vincenzo shouted as he took off running again. The wolves caught up to him and began gnawing at his limbs. He screamed in agony but the leader of the pack signaled for them to cease their attack.
Vincenzo was bloody, and chunks of flesh were ripped from his body. They threw him into the black SUV which had caught up to them and sped off.
Cesare and Lance returned to the house and saw that he was gone. Cesare knew his brother wouldn’t just bail on them, but felt something was strange. Cesare watched the ground closely and tracked Vincenzo’s footsteps.
“Look. He walks at a steady pace, then his stride gets longer,” Cesare said, as he noticed the Nike prints upon the side walk.
“Someone started chasing him,” Lance pointed out as he noticed three other sets of footprints.
Cesare hopped in the car and activated the radar to lock on to Vincenzo's location.
“They're right around the corner,” Cesare said, following the blinking dot on the screen. They pulled up to an abandoned building where they could hear wolves growling and Vincenzo pleading for release.
Lance cocked his guns and ran inside while Cesare took to the air. Two men strung Vincenzo up on a line and began to beat him; tearing at his flesh with their teeth and claws.
Lance ran in at speeds that were too fast for Vincenzo to see with his half dead eyes. The wolves were hungry and began to take their full wolf forms to defend themselves.
Vincenzo squinted to get a look at the flashes before his eyes. Every time he blinked, a wolf fell dead before him. The windows above crashed into a million pieces, causing all to look up. Cesare fell to his feet, summoning his fire show.
A wolf in his human form, began to shoot an Uzi, and Lance stood in front of Vincenzo stopping every bullet with his Magia. When the clip was empty, the bullets continued to float in the air and Lance began to beat the man until he was senseless.
Cesare began to burn the building and the bodies as not to leave their scent.
“Who are you?” a wolf asked as he strained to see out of the one eye that worked.
“Borgia. Cesare Borgia. And this is my brother Lancelot. Whatever beef you have with Vincenzo dies with that motherfucker of there,” he said pointing at a man who was gasping for air.
“Shit. Figures,” the man said as blood, ran down the side of his face. His silence gave Cesare the impression that the message was clear. Vincenzo smiled as the brothers rescued him twice in two days, but was also afraid of them.
Lance carried him off, leaving the room a bloody, burning mess. As they approached Cesare's Challenger Vincenzo pulled away from Lance nearly falling from the pain.
“What the fuck man! I got damn wolf people eating my ass up! Before y’all invited me into your “magical” world I had my shit together!” Vincenzo yelled, but before he could speak, Lance had him pinned to the wall by his collar.
“You ain’t have shit little brother. Because as I remember it, you were two seconds from getting ass fucked by a werewolf in beast form. But you don't know that, do you? Because all your shitty gangbanging has brought you into a world unseen. A world, Cesare and I have tried to keep you from!” Lance yelled, throwing him against the wall.
Vincenzo straightened out his shirt and spit.
“Y'all roll up in here like fucking Harry Potter and shit, but I'm not supposed to be mad and shocked? Damn what I've been doing. Cesare falls out of the fucking sky in a blaze of glory, and you take about a hundred bullets and walk away. Fuck y'all! Insane motherfuckers!” Vincenzo yelled.
“No, Cesare is insane, I’m just emotionally unstable,” Lance added. Cesare couldn’t help but burst out in laughter.
Lance shook his head and reached for a pack of cigarettes as he joined Cesare in the car. The engine hummed as Vincenzo just stood as if waiting for an invitation.
“We should take him to get another reading. He's a Borgia. He's not going to stay out of trouble and he needs to be able to protect himself out here. Besides, if one of our enemies gets wind of him, they could try and kill him on principle. I mean, even if he is an Alchemist, he’s still our little brother,” Lance said, as he blew smoke out the window.
Cesare rolled his eyes. “He’s no fucking Alchemist. Damn that shit.” Cesare looked over at his confused little brother and laughed.
“Get in the fucking car!” he yelled, but Vincenzo was hesitant. Cesare got out and drug him to the back seat almost against his will.
“Hell no! Let me out Cesare! I'm not fucking with y'all!” he shouted as he kicked the back of the driver's seat.
Cesare's right fist caught fire and he held it up in Vincenzo's view, frightening him to silence.
“Now kick my fucking seat again,” he dared, causing Vincenzo to cower down.
“What the fuck man? Who are y'all? What are y'all?” he asked, with his eyes widened. Lance sighed, but knew it was time to let his nosey brother in.
“We are Magia Vinny. We serve the Order of Magia Chaotica as Knights of the Tree of Knowledge. The powers that you saw was our Magia Chaotica manifesting, something that will take more time to explain,” Lance said, taking another puff.
Vincenzo began to burst out in laughter. “So let me get this straight, this jackass runs around in a priest outfit burning people the fuck up, and you go running into bullets with your $50,000 suits on because y'all are Knights?” Vincenzo asked, as Cesare burst into laughter again. Lance looked back at him and nodded. “Get the fuck out of here! Man, y'all need to stay off that shit. Let me out!” he said banging on the seat again.
“Shut the fuck up. Baby. We'll get you straight after the gathering in DC,” Lance said.
“Hold on, I heard about that. I kind of wanted to go.” Cesare and Lance looked back at him through the mirror.
“You'll go, but for reasons beyond your knowledge,” Cesare said.
“I heard The Prophet is going to drop some serious knowledge today. Wake some people up. Give people some answers,” Vincenzo added.
“Bro, you have a lot to learn. Just watch and listen. I will help you through this okay,” Cesare said softly. Vincenzo sat quiet, falling into hi
s thoughts for the next thirty minutes of the ride until they reached a mountainside bearing the Magia sigil and Cesare drove straight through.
Vincenzo gasped as time appeared to stand still, and as he blinked, they were pulling up on a hill side where three other black Challengers and Rufus’s green jeep were parked.
Cesare and Lance got of the car as Vincenzo began to bleed out heavily. The energy from the portal stretched his wounds sending him into a state of deliriousness.
“Hey umm. Y’all got some magical healing potion? I can’t feel my balls,” Vincenzo said, as he began passing out.
“Shit. Vinny’s dying,” Lance said calmly, with the cigarette still pressed between his lips. Cesare whistled for Chrissy who was standing with the other Knights.
“Yuck. What happened to him?”
“Fell into a wolf den,” Lance said giggling.
“Who is he?”
“Our brother,” Cesare answered.
Chrissy held her hands above his body and began absorbing his wounds. He sat up feeling invincible. Chrissy fell back as her body was ravaged with pain. She began pushing the bad energy out of her and expelled it through her mouth.
“What in the fuck?” Vincenzo asked, watching Chrissy convulse for a moment.
“This is Miss Chrissy. One of the most powerful healers on the planet. She absorbed your wounds, negative energy, and she converts it into positive energy,” Lance explained. He felt his wounds once he realized he was no longer in pain.
“That’ll be ten grand. And you’re a Borgia so you can’t say you don’t have it,” she said holding her hand out.
“But I don’t, I’m sorry,” he replied.
“Well then, I guess you’ll just have to be my human slave,” she said giggling.
***
The brothers changed into their Magia sweat suits with long coats and hoods bearing the seal of the Magia Chaotica upon their backs.
“Damn. I want one,” Vincenzo said staring at their uniforms. They didn’t answer him, but fist bumped each other as Lance headed for the rooftop with Chrissy to meet the other Knights. Cesare threw him a pair of jeans and a shirt as he couldn’t walk down the street all bloody.
“Why y'all splitting up? What's going on?” he asked.
“Do you remember those Bible stories mom used to tell you about angels and how they hated the creation of man?” Cesare asked.
“Yeah?”
“It’s true. Some of it any way. The angels waged war upon man, but there was a small group of angels which didn’t want any part of it. The Bible tells us that these angels were kicked out of Heaven. That's wrong. They just descended to find a world to make their own. In exchange for sanctuary in this world, the Grigori taught the first of our orders magic; used to defend against the constant threat of angels. These people you see here, sheeple, many of them will never know of this world because the angels put up a veil so only a few of us can learn magic,” Cesare explained.
“People like you?”
“And you too little brother,” he said smiling as he heard someone yelling “Yo Ray!”
A tall, dark skinned man with long dreads was fighting his way through the crowd to them. He wore the same hooded coat as Cesare and Lance, holding a large corn dog and soda.
“De vibrations of de sheeple make me head hurt. It feels like ants crawling around up dere,” D’Artagnan said shaking his dreads. Cesare laughed as he reached for the corn dog but missed.
“D'Artagnan, this is my other brother Vincenzo. He's standing on the ledge so we have to keep him close. I want him to see what it is we do before he joins. Since, we didn’t have much of a choice,” Cesare said.
D'Artagnan would've shook Vincenzo's hand if they weren’t full. “Well come on little brother. I found us good spots,” he said leading them through the pack.
***
Back on the rooftop, the smoke from Lancelot’s cigarette blew in the face of Rufus Sosius as they stood looking down the street towards the Obelisk of the West. Rufus closed his eyes, inhaling the second hand smoke as it gave his mind some comfort while he toyed with the doubt he had in his heart about the Prophet’s attempt to bring unity amongst the Orders.
He didn’t understand The Prophet's real reason for summoning the sheeple and it bothered him. Below, the pounding feet of thousands sounded like an army marching to war. Rufus silently anticipated the peace gathering going awry, but kept a calm reserve about himself as he watched. His three Knights however, where not so quiet about their discontent.
“The ants go marching one by one, fuck you, and you,” Quintus sang as he stood on his tip toes to look over the edge. His face turned up as if disgusted.
Standing only three foot eight, the cantankerous, opinionated dwarf began throwing skittles into the crowd. Adonis laughed at his condescending friend as he too looked over the edge.
“Oh come on my friend, they're just searching for enlightenment,” Adonis said flinging his long, amber hair behind him.
Quintus rolled his eyes. “I can't think of one thing I hate more than sheeple. Look at them, masses of them. Marching to the point of what? What good has marching ever done anyone? Rex, let me shoot them. Please,” he said looking back at Rufus.
“Well, if Dante's vision was correct, you may get your chance. I don’t understand The Prophet's reason for this. Be it nothing more than symbolic, it puts all of the Orders at risk of exposure. Hopefully Borgia and D'Artagnan got good seats,” Rufus said gritting his teeth.
He ran his fingers through his thick beard which seemed to be a different grade of hair than the disheveled brown mess upon his head.
“Why do you call him Borgia Rex? I'm a Borgia too,” Lance asked as he pulled out another cigarette.
“Because your brother is Borgia the elder. He gets the title by default. You Lance, are the second son,” Rufus responded. Lancelot chuckled trying to ignore his thoughts of doom. His nerves were unsettled, and he smoked more today than any other day as he felt the coming of death.
Lance typically had little to say, but his finger was ever ready to pull the trigger. As the cinders began to burn on the end of his cigarette, two witches landed upon the rooftop with their broomsticks.
“Oh for fucks sake!” Rufus said under his tongue as he walked up to greet them. “Madam Crone. I figured you wouldn't miss the party,” he said taking her hand and kissing it respectfully.
Matilda Barron stood before the Knights as the head Crone of the Cult of Winged Reapers. Her brown, conical hats were always over-sized; stretching the width of her broad shoulders. Her wrinkled face, however, gave the stern appearance of a prude, which some did not find inviting. Matilda annoyed Rufus occasionally, but he indulged her as her frustration would often tickle him.
“Of course I couldn’t miss this. What is he doing? Is he going to expose us anyways?” she asked, in that high pitched, English accent which annoyed him. Rufus shrugged and smiled.
“How is Marlena?” Rufus asked.
“She’s still quite angry about you marrying that whor -,” Matilda began to say when she shifted her eyes towards the Blue Goddesses. She cleared her throat and attempted to change the subject while Rufus laughed at her misstep.
“Oh by the way, have you met my new Witch Deputy? Lorne Davies?” she asked introducing a handsome, blue eyed blonde man wearing tight brown pants and tall black riding boots.
Quintus nudged Adonis on the leg who was somewhat tickled with his appearance. Lorne bowed to Rufus respectfully.
“Is something funny sir?” he asked, gunning for Adonis.
“Would you like the truth? Or an honest lie?” Adonis asked, laughing in retort of his question. Before Lorne could reply, the rooftop filled with a heavy smoke.
A man walked from behind it wearing a long white shirt with a black and red striped vest with the fleur-de-lis upon his back. A tall, black hat sat upon his head; his face wrapped in thick bandages. A gold chain dangled from the pocket, with a ticking clock on the other end.
> “The elusive Gentlemen of the Haze. What brings you Nicky?” Rufus asked, rolling his eyes once again.
“It has been some time since last we spoke Rex. And we didn’t have the chance to speak at the dinner from Heaven. But that was quite a display of power by your Order at the feast. I am glad to see the hands of the clock have had no effect on that pretty face of yours,” Nicky said snickering from beneath his bandages.
“Don't you dare come up here acting as though everything is fine. I haven't forgotten that fucked up shit you did. But I’m in a good mood today. So you best be on your way,” Rufus said. Nicky continued to snicker.
“You placed a wager that a Gentleman of the Haze could not seduce a Blue Goddess. You lost. The fact that the BG in question was your ex-wife, is one I regret,” Nicky said as Rufus grabbed for him.
Nicky turned into a mist and appeared behind him. Adonis’s mouth dropped in shocked at what he just heard.
“Gentlemen. Let's not war with each other. There are bigger issues going on here. Place your differences aside,” Matilda boomed. Nicky straightened his collar as Rufus shot him a bird. Adonis laughed as Lance continued to shake his head.
“Thank you, Madam Crone. Now then, I hear the Prophet is going to expose us. Yes?” Nicky asked.
“We're about to find out. The Prophet is beginning,” Rufus said pointing to the large screen above them.
“This should be good,” Nicky said pulling out a pair of shades which he placed upon his wrapped eyes.
***
“See little brother, there is a world behind the world you live in. There is magic all around you, but only with an opened eye can you see it,” Cesare explained as they walked through the crowd.
“This seal on my chest represents our Order, Magia Chaotica. If you look amongst the crowd you will see those of equal or lesser orders; each having their own set of magical secrets that is not shared with the masses,” he continued to explain.
“So that guy right there. With the symbol on his shirt. He's a magician?” Vincenzo asked pointing at a large, white man with a tan darker than that on his face.
Knights of Enmity: The Barons Have Fallen (Descending Fires Book 1) Page 20